Part 6

A hulking, humanoid wolf. An ordinary human youth. A small, frail girl.

And opposite the trio: A small, feminine silhouette.

All on the rocky edge of a great forest. Bearing down upon another great forest.

And all surrounded by piles of corpses.

“Sluuuuuuuuuuurp! Ahhhh,” the noises of the silhouette slurping on her drink filled the air, accompanied by her varied commentary. Then, after a sigh of joy, the silhouette’s shoved her neck to the right and left.

Crack, crack.

With nothing but the cracking of her neck filling the silence, the silhouette let out an exasperated sigh.

“Silence? Booooring. Don’t leave it to me to fill this awkward silence. All I can think of is spewing words as I eat,” the high-pitched, raspy voice spoke out. She seemed to be unaware of her tendency to spew words as she ate, without wanting to fill the silence.

“…”

“…”

“Cough.”

“Huzzah! Munch, munch. A cough is better than nothing,” she called out whilst continuing to commentate her feast. “That you?”

The silhouette paused her feast, calling out to the cougher.

“…”

“…”

“Cough, cough.”

“Ah! Ding, ding, ding. I was correct! My reward issssss… AN EYE!” She cried in falsetto, changing pitch with every phrase. Then, she pulled her reward from a nearby corpse and threw it into her mouth. “Rip. Squish, squish. Chew and swallow!”

Knight stuffed his fist into his mouth. Those coughs came after he vomited at the sight of the corpse feast. The singular participant of that feast hadn’t stopped eating. He didn’t want to keep disturbing her feast, despite her call for noise. This was normal of course. He just didn’t want to feel pain. The silhouette showed no signs of stopping her feast, nor finishing anytime soon. If he stood still he at least wouldn’t join the menu immediately.

“No answer again? -Ah, intestines. That’s booori-”

“Stop saying those useless things, would ya?” An annoyed, rough voice interrupted with a question.

“-Huh?”

And two legs moved forward. “I said stop ya whining. Ya only need to say things once, ya know. If they don’t listen-”

“Yay! Munch, chew, munch. A voice! Now I can – oh, bones, crunch, crunch - stop saying random words to fill the silence as I eat!” The silhouette proclaimed her hypocritic joy as someone moved closer.

“HA-HA,” its joy was answered by wild laughter, followed by a jovial voice. “Ya do what ya want, dontcha?”

“Ahhh. Rip and gorge. Then chew, chew, SWALLOW! Mmmmmm, muscles are nice - Bite, bite, crunch - hehehe, but they make a strange combination with bones.”

“Hahaah… I like that. But. I have to tell ya,” the jovial tone faded, replaced by the rustle of metal. “All that commentary ya doing. I don’t like it. It’s pretty-”

“Hahahaaah. Mmm, yes! More, more, more. It really still isn’t enough. Eat, eat, chew, chew. I really, really can’t believe mother puts up with more than this hunger.”

“-useless.”

The voice finished his interrupted sentence and-

Chink-Chink

-chains slithered down furry arms, warming the rocky floor with their cold steel links.

“So, ma ex-guards taste good?” The humanoid wolf joked, cracking his neck from side to side. “Ya did me a favour by-”

“-Ahhh. Yes, yes, yes! Taste soooo good. Or did they? Too much crunch, crunch… Meh, new food tastes good, no matter if it’s actually good or not. Bite, bite, crunch. Then again, everything tastes good right?”

In an instant, her silhouette vanished and a hand grabbed the wolf's shoulders.

The glutton was revealed.

With a small diminutive frame covered by bony, insect-like armour the girl cried, "Tell me, tell me," shaking the wolf's shoulders as she stuffed her mouth with food. "Come on! Tell me! Eat, eat, eat. Do you enjoy feasts like me?”

Stopping his surprise from freezing him, the wolf-man instantly stepped back.

“Useless…” he muttered before-

Slam!

-his two paws crashed into his skull, shaking off his oncoming anger.

“Useless question. Everyone likes feasts.”

“Eh? Crunch, crunch, mu-!” The glutton froze, a piece of its maroon hair catching its words as it fell into her mouth. “Huh? Huh? Huh?” Its eyes widened as noises trickled out of its empty mouth. Empty. Nothing was being eaten. No bones to crunch on; no blood to slurp from; no meat to chew on. And nothing to feed her insatiable appetite. “…Eat. Eat, crunch, chew. Tear, swallow, gulp. Rip, munch, consume. Chomp, champ, nosh. Suck, guzzle, chug. Eat, eat, eat, eat. Consume! Digest!”

Her whole body overcome with melancholy; the mad glutton stopped her mumblings. The insect-like body drooping over the floor.

“…Ya alright?” The wolf stepped back as he posed a question he knew wouldn’t be answered. It was meant to serve as a distraction if the glutton was still aware of her surroundings. After all, the wolf-man had motioned to Knight and Rei. The motion meant-

“Let’s go Rei-!”

“Tear, rip, crunch! Crunch, munch, chomp, champ, chew, eat! Eat, consume, digest, and!” The glutton’s whole body shot up as it cried out. Its eyes wide in desperation as they pierced its prey; its nose twitched as it sniffed the next flavour to consume, and her hanging mouth frothed and dribbled at the next chance to- “DEVOUR!”

There was not even a moment of difference between when the glutton announced her hunger and when she lashed out with her sharp claws.

“--!!”

The small glutton leapt at its prey. Sharp claws ready to tear open fur and skin - only to be greeted by the chink of metal.

“That was useless.”

The glutton didn’t give it a single thought as she forced her hands to tear into its prey.

Chink, chink, chink.

Yet the claws only ripped the rags from his body as they met metal again. But despite the same result, the same action came again.

“Ya quite useless, ain’t ya?”

The arms ready to claw once more froze, pulling the glutton heavily off-balance as its prey asked that question. It was clear that the what the wolf-man thought was true as the glutton’s hands were caught in a mess of rusty chains.

The metal protecting his fur from a frenzy of slashes were the mess of chains that held the glutton in place. His whole body was wrapped in them, ready to-

“Crunch - crunch – spit!” The glutton ripped itself free with the use of its fangs, spitting out the metal it had shattered. “Slash, slash, bite!”

There was not even a moment of difference between when the glutton ripped itself free and leapt at its prey.

“It’s my turn, monster-lass.”

The gluttons head bounced back, throwing it off balance as its prey stated those words. Then, a chain different to the one that smacked the glutton’s hear swept towards it one after another. The glutton evaded with backward leaps, putting her small frame to good use with a slew of acrobatic manoeuvres.

“Ha-Ha! Yar ability can’t make up for yar lack of skill!”

The glutton finally took a second to rest, panting and panting. The chitin armour that covered most of her body held a couple of cracks.

“Ability alone is use…less...”

The wolf-man’s voice trailed off along with the whips of his chains.

“Wings, fly, dodge!” The glutton exclaimed as a pair of see-through wings sprouted from her back. “Wyvern’s love to snatch beastmen from the ground and devour!”

“…They love to snatch anyone from the floor and devour them,” he sighed, pulling down the mess of chains wrapped around his upper body, revealing his bare, scar-ridden chest only covered by patches of black fur.“The ones from the black mountain, at least…”

The glutton spared no time with idle chatter and instantly flew towards her prey. “They tear, then bite. Tear, bite chew, swallow!”

It hadn’t even been half a second between setting off and reaching her prey. Yet the wolf’s chains had something to say, whipping up a chain wall, forcing the glutton upwards.

The wolf spared no expense in unleashing a frenzy of attacks. Messes of entangled chains lashing at the predator.

Yet all they met was the resistance of air, the glutton continuing her ascension.

“Ya not gonna eat me by going up there!” The hulking wolf-man bellowed, his chains missing his mark. “Pfft, doesn’t matter. I can still reach,” chuckling to himself the man ripped more chains from his body, allowing his chains to extend further.

Then, as soon as the chains whipped through the air, the glutton was hurtling downwards. Her wings folded and her face plastered with a ravenous smile.

“MMMmmmm, heheHEHAHAAAAH! Snatch, tear, eat!”

The wolf-man desperately called on his chains, pulling them down with all his might. But the flying needle was faster, and they trailed behind.

“Heheh, let’s see what ya got!” The beast howled and lifted his giant paws from the mess of chains. “Let’s see if ya claws can pierce my bare skin!”

“Ahhh, mmmm, I will!”

Chink.

The claws met metal for yet another time.

“Ha-ha, gotta Check ya surroundings,” the man laughed as the glutton’s bony hands were trapped in a mess of chains attached to the man’s legs.

But the glutton spared no time caught in chains and smacked the chains with her flailing legs.

Chink, chink, chink.

“I thought I told ya ability means shit without skill!” The man stated with wild laughter, grabbing the chains wrapped around the small glutton.

“Now, enjoy tha view!”

Sending his best regards the man heaved the chains into the air, swinging them right around, and smashing them to the floor.

“Crush-ugh!”

The glutton winced in pain. Her mind abruptly frazzled as a sharp pain erupted from her back. Her whole body convulsed, buckling against the sudden pressure underneath. But that didn’t mean time for rest.

“Ahhh, feisty prey tastes the best!” The glutton cried as she bounced back to her feet, free from the chains.

“Give me a rest will ya-”

“OI!”

“-! You! Stay away-”

Knight screamed with a broken voice as he belted towards the wolf-man. His appearance made the wolf twist his lips and look back. Then he turned a large paw toward Knight, stretching it towards him when-

“REI IS FUCKING----EH?!”

-a heavy impact pressed into Knight’s shoulder, sending him flying into a bush. With the force leaving Knight on his back, his eyes opened wide with incomprehension.

The wolf-man was frozen. But then his whole body relaxed as he sighed, forming a thin smile on his maw.

-The tips of bony fingers were poking out of his chest.

“Mmmmm- oh? Black blood? Ahhhh, new things always taste nice.”